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1%%Character tropes do not go on this page. Tropes which apply only to a specific character should be placed under that character's section in the Mass Effect series character page (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/MassEffect) or the Mass Effect 2 character page (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/MassEffect2).%%
2[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mass_effect_2_i8726.jpg]]
3[[caption-width-right:350: Ladies and Gentlemen, our heroes: [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits A dead man (that's you), a terrorist and an assassin.]] And they're some of the more respectable ones.]]
4
5->''"We have to give everything...even if that means our lives. We will stop at nothing! We will fight for the lost!"''
6-->-- '''Commander Shepard'''
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8The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin second game]] in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series.
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10One month after the events of [[VideoGame/MassEffect1 the first game]], the ''Normandy'' is destroyed in a vicious attack by an unidentified aggressor and [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome Commander Shepard is killed in action]]. Two years later, Shepard reawakens to find that Cerberus, a mysterious human supremacist organization, has retrieved and [[ResurrectedForAJob revived the commander at great expense]]; human colonies have been vanishing, and an enigmatic and advanced alien race, known as "the Collectors", is behind it. Forced to work with Cerberus and their leader, the Illusive Man, Shepard must now [[AvengersAssemble assemble a team]] and take the fight to their mutual enemy.
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12They call it a {{suicide mission}}. [[EarnYourHappyEnding Prove them wrong]].
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14The plot structure of ''Mass Effect 2'' is unique among [=BioWare=] games and, indeed, among {{Western RPG}}s at large. While it does feature classical [=BioWare=]-style quest hubs (Omega, Citadel, Ilium, Tuchanka), a bulk of the plot consists of [[CompanionSpecificSidequest companion recruitment]] and {{Loyalty Mission}}s that aren't tied to a particular hub and can be completed in any order. At the start of the game, you receive your [[CoolStarship spaceship]], two starting party members, [[FemmeFatale Miranda Lawson]] and [[MilitaryMaverick Jacob Taylor]], and a handful of leads on potential further recruits (eight in total, or ten with [[DownloadableContent DLC]]), including two from the first game. Once recruited, they eventually present you with an optional "LoyaltyMission"--a personal {{sidequest}} that provides not only the standard RPG rewards of cash, EXP and new gear, but also CharacterDevelopment and new powers for the party member in question. Interspersed between these are several investigations issued to you by the Illusive Man, in which you examine the Collectors, figure out where they came from and what they're up to, and eventually, travel through the Omega 4 Relay to strike at their home base. While completionists will want to recruit everyone and upgrade everything, players in a hurry (or who want to challenge themselves by completing the mission with minimal resources) can jump through with minimal support and training, and still win (though it will determine [[DownerEnding how many people survive]]).
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16There is a great deal more interactivity with this game than there was with the first. The big thing is that if you import a character you played from the first game, you take with them ''all'' of the choices they made and the people they interacted with as being a part of this game in some way, ranging from your romantic option still having feelings for you to very minor characters who you [[AscendedExtra barely recall talking to]]. The Paragon/Renegade options are more reliant on the choices you make; acting like a Paragon gives you a higher Paragon score and the same with Renegade, and the higher score gives you more opportunities to use them (in the first game, being able to initiate a charm or intimidate option was based on how you allocated leveling points). It was also spruced up with the addition of "interrupts," essentially {{quick time event}}s that allow Shepard to interject an optional Paragon or Renegade action during conversations (such as [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim shutting someone up pre-emptively]], or [[TheWoobie hugging someone in pain]]). These may make your mission harder or easier, but you get an extra reward for using them.
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18On the gameplay side, many things were refined. Neither you nor your squad members are given weapons you are incapable of using properly. Weapons themselves require "[[UniversalAmmunition thermal clips]]" for everything except the heavy weapons (meaning part of the game is looking for more ammo), and as your preferred gun runs out you are forced to switch to a less-preferred gun. The TakeCover mechanic is a vital element and you will not last long without using it, although properly designed [[StoneWall Sentinels]] or [[LightningBruiser Vanguards]] are close to unkillable. The armor and equipment of the characters is a uniform system that depends on technology you gather during your missions, and while you can change their look (at least one base outfit and another when [[YourRewardIsClothes their loyalty mission is complete]]), it is purely cosmetic (Shepard, however, has interchangeable armor components which provide different bonuses). You are given the option of leveling up a character and changing their weapon loadout before every mission, and leveling up is a tier-based system, each additional level requiring more points to acquire. The combat abilities are simplified; there are fewer attacks to use, and the new unified cooldown system means that you don't have to keep checking the power wheel to see if all of your powers have recharged, because you can only use one at a time. However, certain abilities can now combo together for more damage, and there are also more variations available between the different classes (for example, you have three full biotics on your team, each with different biotic-based abilities).
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20The series has spawned Roleplay/CerberusDailyNews, a [[{{Defictionalization}} defictionized]] news site that would (for a time) provide daily updates detailing events in the ''ME'' universe, most of it having no bearing whatsoever on the story in the first two games[[note]]In the lead-up to the release of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the in-game Cerberus Daily News, seen on the main menu screen, was reactivated after a full year with no updates, with small snippets of information about comm buoys going off-line as the Reapers prepare their invasion[[/note]]. It also hosts forums full of roleplayers who constantly react to said news and act out in-universe storylines of their own making. Finally, there is a proliferation of DLC: two new squad members, at least two stand-alone side missions, and a number of weapon packs, armor packs and alternate costumes for Jack, Thane, Garrus, Miranda, Grunt, and Tali. The most important DLC, though, are "Lair of the Shadow Broker" and "Arrival," which Creator/BioWare call "bridging" content because they help to set up ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''. Both of them add completely new ''story events'' to the game. The former includes Liara as a temporary squadmate as you storm the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin lair of the Shadow Broker]]; the second is a Shepard solo mission as you rescue an undercover Alliance operative who has discovered proof that the Reapers are coming ''soon'' and needs help preventing their eponymous arrival.
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22----
23!{{Trope Namer|s}} for:
24* CannedOrdersOverLoudspeaker
25* LoyaltyMission
26* WeWereYourTeam
27
28-----
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30''Please do not add any character tropes to this page. The Characters page for the entire series can be found [[Characters/MassEffect here]]; the Characters page for Mass Effect 2 can be found [[Characters/MassEffect2 here]].''
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32!!''Mass Effect 2'' contains the following tropes:
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34[[index]]
35* MassEffect2/TropesAToF
36* MassEffect2/TropesGToM
37* MassEffect2/TropesNToS
38* MassEffect2/TropesTToZ
39[[/index]]
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